No abstract

The spirit of 'Web 2.0' is that individuals should open themselves to collaborative projects instead of seeking to make and protect their 'own' material. (Gauntlett, 2007) Since the naming by Tim O'Reilly (2005) of 'Web 2.0' to signify a new phase in web development and user experience, the '2.0' suffix has been applied in a number of disciplines to indicate a similarly new direction in that field. However, this borrowed branding can fail to transfer the culture of development and original intentions of the 'Web 2.0' label, and may therefore be applied without detailed knowledge of its origins. There is a case for examining the technical and cultural meaning of Web 2.0 in order to determine whether a deeper understanding of the history and original context of the label -and the technology behind it -have anything to offer toward a more intelligently informed '2.0' metaphor, or -fundamentally -whether its use in other contexts is meaningful in any case beyond the current phase of the web. To this end we explore the contrast between what may be termed 'technology-independent' applications of the metaphorical suffix and those that may be termed 'technology-dependent' with regard to how accurately they reflect the tenets behind the original concept. Additionally, we explore the drivers behind the rush to adopt the 2.0 suffix, and in particular its relation to contemporary discussion regarding how Media Studies needs to be 'upgraded' to Media Studies 2.0 in order to deal with new media.

Purpose This paper aims to present findings from an EU-funded international student-led energy saving competition (SAVES) on a scale previously unseen. There are multiple accounts of short-term projects and energy saving competitions encouraging pro-environmental behaviour change amongst students in university dormitories, but the purpose of this research is to provide evidence of consistent and sustained energy savings from student-led energy savings competitions, underpinned by practical action. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach (pre- and post-intervention surveys, focus groups and analysis of energy meter data) was used to determine the level of energy savings and quantifiable behaviour change delivered by students across participating university dormitories. Findings This research has provided further insight into the potential for savings and behaviour change in university dormitories through relatively simple actions. Whilst other interventions have shown greater savings, this project provided consistent savings over two years of 7 per cent across a large number of university dormitories in five countries through simple behaviour changes. Research limitations/implications An energy dashboard displaying near a real-time leaderboard was added to the engagement in the second year of the project. Whilst students were optimistic about the role that energy dashboards could play, the evidence is not here to quantify the impact of dashboards. Further research is required to understand the potential of dashboards to contribute to behavioural change savings and in constructing competitions between people and dormitories that are known to each other. Social implications SAVES provided engagement with students, enabling, empowering and motivating them to save energy – focusing specifically on the last stage of the “Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action” framework. Automated meter reading data was used in the majority of participating dormitories to run near real-time energy challenges through an energy dashboard that informed students how much energy they saved compared to a target, and encouraged peer-to-peer learning and international cooperation through a virtual twinning scheme. Originality/value Findings from energy saving competitions in universities are typically from small-scale and short-term interventions. SAVES was an energy-saving competition in university dormitories facilitated by the UK National Union of Students in five countries reaching over 50,000 students over two academic years (incorporating dormitories at 17 universities). As such it provides clear and important evidence of the real-world long-term potential efficiency savings of such interventions.

The paper presents a discussion on the logic of the necessity for investigation into the area of physiological computing and reviews empirical work by some of the authors. In particular, the paper discusses the reliability of information that can be inferred from certain biological sensor data and ways in which positive benefits can be ensured or measured relating to the use of the feedback that can result from its use. One important and emerging application area for physiological feedback in interactive computing is in interactive art systems. In some respects, this application has been making strong progress for the particular reason that the interactive experience itself, rather than more abstract and problematic information handling, is at the core. Another interesting aspect of the applications in art is that they provide informal experimental investigations into these new forms of human-computer interaction, and artists are already devising new applications and interfaces for physiological information. The paper describes an art work employing physiological feedback, including a discussion of how it was built and of the participating audience reactions when exhibited. q

This paper outlines issues concerning collaboration, group behaviour, complexity and organisations with some reference to specific events organised by the 'Embracing Complexity in Design' (ECiD) project of the D21C AHRC and EPSRC UK research Cluster. These events aimed to encourage 'emergence' in transdisciplinary areas dealing with design research, complexity, media art with live or participatory elements and new media. They involved group work in a performative context along with on-line proceedings. The authors' research perspectives in art-design-technology, performance art and collaboration informed the paper, which explores possible prerequisites and conditions that stimulate or inhibit emergent behaviour among groups of creative individuals, drawing upon concepts from the fields of Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences. Suggestions, terse statements, open ends and partial completion are integral to the emerging nature of the research outlined, although a tentative framework is proposed in which to position work observed. Some recommendations are made to provide pointers for further academic and practice-based work.. . . 'research' need not mean 'academic research' or 'scientific research'. It simply means an enquiry whose goal is new and communicable 239 PADM 3 (2&3) pp. 239-252.